Martial Arts Updates

Lets take a brief interlude from all the talk of firearms and get caught up on martial arts.

• Road Tai Chi

The road tai chi will continue on January 5. The 3-hour drive is a bugger and progress is slow. At this point all I can say is I am practicing when I find the time.

• Okinawan Kenpo Karate

There is an instructor that teaches Okinawan Kenpo Karate at the city recreational center. I’ve heard good things so I’m going to go and observe a class — most likely the week of January 7.

This visit is related to my use of the SuperFit  gym chain. It’s going to take a class with an instructor yelling at me before I can drop the next 10lbs. I’m already going to SuperFit to use their weights and elliptical stair master. For an extra $40 a month I could try these offerings: Fitness boot camp, kettle bells, and cardio kick. The instruction and intensity is great, however, if I am going to devote that much time and money to something why not make it martial?

This is why I’m going to check out the karate. I lost a lot of weight during my run in tae kwon do. I have all the fundamentals so this would be is a different interpretation of much of what I already know. Also I have to say that my monthly visit to the tai chi instructor made me realizes how much I miss a weekly class.

We shall see. This could turn out like the aikido experiment: Instructor building his school with only me and a penguin as his students.

Speaking of Tae Kwon Do

This one came across the A Killing Art Blog. These are techniques that you may not find taught in all tae kwon do schools.

Tae Kwon Do pioneer C K Choi created “Punching Sparring Pattern,” one of 19 Sparring Patterns to help martial artists to train for fighting or sparring.

Incidentally, the book titled A Killing Art is in my top 10 list of martial arts books. It’s a must for tae kwon do folks, and I highly recommend it for those of you who hail from karate, too.

-BCP

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